In situ fluorometers, deployment hardware, software, and portable computing technology have made collecting real-time data and parsing it with location information easier to do. Real-time graphic representations provide visualizations of fluorescent concentration, position and depth allowing researchers the flexibility to make real-time adjustments, resulting in more precise, focused field-work and data collection. In order to facilitate real-time data collection, Turner Designs released the C-ray Towed Deployment body for the C3 Submersible Fluorometer. The C-ray enables the C3 to be deployed alongside a moving vessel at a slow speed while transmitting data over a cable. These data can then be easily parsed with GPS data.

Real-Time data from the C3 can also be captured and viewed using Turner Designs’ C-Soft program. C-Soft allows operators to view waveform or tabular data as they are being saved to a file on the PC desktop. The images below illustrate the powerful way data interpretation can be facilitated by graphical format.